Pure devotion to Krishna is the rarest achievement, surpassing even the liberated, attainable through direct hearing and chanting.Listen — Srila Prabhupada Uvaca
The Nectar of Devotion — November 1, 1972, Vṛndāvana 721101ND-VRNDAVAN [38:44 Minutes] NOD_721101ND-VRNDAVAN Pradyumna: [reading:] "...as given by Rūpa Gosvāmī in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, can be summarized thus: his service is favorable and is always in relation to Kṛṣṇa. In order to keep the purity of such Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, one must be freed from all material desires and philosophical speculation. Any desire except for the service of the Lord is called material desire. "And philosophical speculation refers to the sort of speculation which ultimately arrives at a conclusion of voidism or impersonalism. This conclusion is useless for a Kṛṣṇa conscious person.
Only rarely by philosophical speculation can one reach the conclusion of worshiping Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā itself. "The ultimate end of philosophical speculation, then, must be Kṛṣṇa, with the understanding that Kṛṣṇa is everything, the cause of all causes, and that one should therefore surrender unto Him. If this ultimate goal is reached, then philosophical advancement is favorable, but if the conclusion of philosophical speculation is voidism or impersonalism, that is not bhakti." Prabhupāda: There is a verse in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: vāsudeva-parā vedā vāsudeva-paraṁ jñānaṁ vāsudeva-paraṁ gatim [SB 1.2.28-29]. So unless one is led to the conclusion vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti [Bg. 7.19], jñāna-vairāgya-karma, anything that you are trying to achieve, if it is not targeted to the realization of Vāsudeva, then it... Śrama eva hi kevalam [SB 1.2.8].
That is the conclusion of Bhāgavata. Whatever you do, the ultimate goal should be realization of Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. Vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyam [Bg. 15.15]. All Vedic conclusions should be ultimately to realize Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa. Bahūnāṁ janmanām ante [Bg. 7.19].
This realization is achieved after many, many births of philosophical speculation, mystic yogic exercise or fruitive activities. Koṭi-karmī-madhye eka jñānī śreṣṭha [Cc. Madhya 19.147]. To become karmī is the third-class stage of life.
One has to make progress further, so that one may become self-realized, brahma-bhūtaḥ [Bg. 5.24]. So out of many, many karmīs, one jñānī, or one who has realized his identification, he's better. And out of many millions of jñānīs who are trying to realize his self by philosophical speculation, brahma-jñāna [Cc Ādi 4.67], so one mukta, or liberated soul, is better. And out of many thousands of liberated souls, it is said by Caitanya Mahāprabhu it is very rare to find out a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. The conclusion is, a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa is picked up out of many, many liberated person. Mukta-saṅgasya jāyate [SB 1.2.20].
Kṛṣṇa realization, bhagavat-tattva-vijñānam, mukta-saṅgasya jāyate. Bhagavat-tattva, the truth, the Absolute Truth, which is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, bhagavat-tattva-vijñānam. Tattva means truth, and that is Bhagavān. Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti [SB 1.2.11]. Brahman realization is not all.
One has to go further. Paramātmā realization—one has to go further. When one comes to realization of Bhagavān, ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇa-bhagavān [Cc Madhya 25.33]—Bhagavān means full with six kinds of opulences, person, sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [Bs. 5.1]—that is ultimate goal of life. Vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahātmā su-durlabhaḥ [Bg. 7.19].